


What Happened Before

by VioletThePorama



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Beforus, Beforus Ancestors, Everybody will show up at some point, F/F, F/M, Gen, Homestuck AU, I have a plot, M/M, My take on the Beforus Ancestors, Not focused completely on romance, Some take longer than others, Sort Of, Wow a lot of gay, rarepair hell, rarepairs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-06-23 14:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15607836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletThePorama/pseuds/VioletThePorama
Summary: In which an old world is explored anew. Love blossoms just as much as hate grows. Even in a peaceful world, nothing is perfect.





	1. The Problem With Blue Girls

Someday Terezi would be a respected lawyer, somebody who locked up all the crime that ran rampant through the streets. For now, she was just one of the lowlifes that she so dreamed of putting away. The only upside was her partner. 

Vriska Serket was a mystery. She was complex, yet Terezi felt she knew everything about the girl. From the way Vriska's hair tumbled and curled slightly at the ends, from the glint of her newly cerulean eyes, to her sharp temper and edges. Terezi was her rock, and she had never before felt quite so pale for somebody. In fact, she never felt anything as strongly as she felt for this girl. She was terrible and terrific at the same time. The criminal had stolen Terezi's diamond, and as good a job as the teal did manipulating people, she wasn't getting out of this one that easily.

They took orders from Her Empresses Radiance's, or HER dignitary, the Orphaner. They were never to slack off on their jobs. They crept through the light and dark alike, and stole, robbed, and killed. Vriska could grip the minds of those around them, making it simple to squeeze the life out of their vulnerable prey. Terezi could make trolls trust them and prolong the session, just before the girls turned on them.

The profession was not something Terezi liked. She hated it with all her being, almost as much as she loved Vriska, but it was something the latter needed. The cerulean was bright and clever and always trying to outdo the world that had hurt her. The world that had cast her into arms that strangled and smothered and hit behind closed doors.

Neither of them were given lusii, so the only alternative was that they were culled, which is where they met. They of course, had left and made a name for themselves the only way they could figure out. Trickery. 

It was time to show off their skills again. The Orphaner wanted to meet somewhere hidden in plain sight, so they were to go to one of the nearby bars. Typically, they wouldn't be able to score such a place for such a short meeting, and would have to settle for a place with rich snobs like the H.E.R. Dignitary would prefer, but the sisters had impressed one of the mobsters who ran the place, and were allowed in any time. 

They met the Orphaner. The purple of his blood hung from every inch of his clothing, and his rings shone with gold and the pink of the empresses blood. He was snooty and as Vriska put it, 'Wouldn't l8st half a minute in the real w8rld!'.

It hadn't escaped their notice that he was the one who had put them in this situation, but he was the best they had at the moment. 

The mission was simple. In and out. The only problem was that this particular group used this location often, meaning they had the advantage of home territory. It would take planning, which would fall to Terezi. Vriska preferred for a job to be quick and take no extra thoughts, meaning Terezi would be rushed if she wanted to join in and keep Vriska from going off on her own.

The sacrifices she made for her girl.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

“Come oooooooon aren't you d8ne yet?” Vriska demanded, close to Terezi's face. Her eyes were wide and her smile stretched across her fangs. She offered Terezi a peck on the cheek, and Terezi soon gave in, feeling too awful in her stomach to refuse the girl.

It hadn't taken her long to cave, and she had to forgo the more intricate part of the detailing. They had done things such as this before. They were pro's. Even with the risk, they would be fine. 

Maybe, one day, Terezi would regret giving into those broken violent eyes, and forceful little kisses that didn't mean much more than an assured ego. That time was not now. Those eyes were her life, and teal bloods lived to please.

The night of the delivery came. The harshness of day was already starting to peak from the edges of the horizon when the trolls finally turned up in the old workshop. While risky, the sun wouldn't be much of an issue for another hour or so.

So they went on. Vriska was to infiltrate one side of the building, and Terezi the other. They were to take out anybody they saw. No witnesses.

Terezi had a sharp knife, and was quick to flip a coin and let it clamor to the ground, distracting two trolls with blood lower than hers. The silver shine of the corn was the last thing they saw. She felt a little bad at how young they looked as she stepped back, pulling her blade from their backs, but it really was their own fault for falling for such an old trick. 

She continued on, narrating to herself as she checked for cargo and other trolls. She preferred to stay with Vriska in situations such as this, but it's what the operation called for. Even if she didn't finish all of the planning, they needed to stick to what she did do. 

But Terezi wanted to see the deftness of Vriska dropping her treasure and scooping the dice back up. She wanted to see the outcomes and she wanted to shriek in glee whenever something that delighted Vriska and put luck in their favor appeared from the roll. 

In secret, sometimes she wanted the cerulean to take a more direct approach, with a knife like Terezi's (if not hers at all), and slice into a victim. Vriska switched between taking credit, and not taking credit for the kills. If it was close and personal, perhaps she could make up her mind. 

Terezi paused in her adventure, and hid behind a wall, watching as somebody passed. She followed behind them a few steps, mimicking their movements, and then drove her blade into their side and twisting up as they turned. She stayed another moment to make certain of her kill, and perhaps make it go a bit faster. 

If guards were patrolling, she was getting closer. 

Sure enough, the next room had many more people in it, lit faintly by a skylight overhead that blocked out the harmful rays, but kept the room lit. From behind some boxes, she glanced across the room and spotted her partner in crime sneaking around up higher. It was time. 

She watched, entranced as Vriska put her hands to her head and spread out control on every troll she could, freezing half the room in place. There was a pause as the rest noticed the blank stares, and then there was movement when one of the previously frozen trolls shot another. Shots fired through the air, and blood splattered like some sort of crude painting. Ahead, Vriska cackled and drew some attention to herself. 

Terezi shook her head to get out of her daze and sprung out, cutting into the back of the troll closest to her. Then she continued to dive in and hack at anybody she could. Vriska did the same from what she could tell, and the two of them twisted and dodges and ducked and hid behind fallen bodies as shots and screams rang out. Everybody was a threat.

Terezi wasn't sure how long it lasted until one of them fired a stray shot directly up, and shattered the glass overhead. She, like many of the remaining ones, jerked her head up and regretted it instantly. The sun was up. 

Somebody noticed her growing dread, and grabbed her by the back of her neck. Her head was pointed up, and she couldn't tell who it was, but they had obviously considered her a threat. 

She stared into the light, blinking back tears as she tried to advert her eyes, but it was too late. The stray glance of surprise and then the shock of being held there had done it, and the scent of cooking flesh filled the air as she and the others around stared into the sun.

It was captivating in the brief moments she had to look at it. Like looking into the eyes of a god. Bright and red and burning and-

It hurt-ithurt-ithurtithurtithurt and-

We'lldieandInevergottotellher-

And it all went black. She couldn't remember anything before the scalding pain and she couldn't hear anything past the screams (who's?), but Vriska had been there too and Terezi didn't know if she was okay and- what if she wasn't breathing?

But when Terezi awoke, Vriska was okay. She was alright, but not. She was different, but Terezi couldn't figure out why. Vriska said she was missing an eye (or seven), but Terezi couldn't see it. She had something on her face, and was stopped by a stranger when she started to pull it (claw get it off-) off of her face. She needed to know what had happened and she needed to see Vriska. 

“Please, Leave Them On.” A stranger said from the side, sweet but firm, and Terezi panicked more, reaching out for Vriska. 

She was taken in and enveloped in the biggest and boniest hug she had ever known and it smelled of Vriska and she could cling on forever as long as she didn't have to think about the stranger or the hands or whoever had been there and screamed with her.

“You're 8lind.” Terezi was told.

“We m8de it.” She was told.

“They all died.” Vriska stated with no emotion, and Terezi nodded dumbly, not having the energy to listen to the full explanation, or to push out the little hook of influence Vriska had planted in the corners of her mind. The teal simply sat and listened to Vriska. It was all she needed. It was all she had.

Later, the stranger introduced herself as Kanaya. Vriska had flagged her down in a frantic rush for help, and Kanaya had obliged.

But Kanaya had a lusus.

Kanaya had a way with words.

Kanaya had sight.

Kanaya had Vriska.

Terezi couldn't blame them for it. She doubted they even noticed, but listening to their tones and feeling the tension between the two of them was overwhelming and all she could do. She couldn't see and her sense of smell gave her frequent headaches and made her want to hide away in a blanket (Kanaya had such soft ones) and stay there as long as she could. Somewhere, Terezi had read that with the loss of one sense, another grew stronger. She supposed this must have been true, because she was sure she had never smelled whatever this was before. 

As she experimented and used to her new sense, she listened to Kanaya and Vriska talk. They spent so much time talking, and Vriska didn't seem nearly as anxious or jumpy as she usually did. The seamstress had obviously fallen for Terezi's girl, and vice versa. What could the teal do to stop them? Vriska deserved happiness.

Kanaya and Vriska fell into the pale quadrant, and it was the wrong one for them, and Terezi was pushed off the edge and finally gave into her urge to hide away, quadrantless. She pondered over whether she and Vriska had ever really been pale, or if it had only been the dream of a disillusioned orphan. 

“OK4Y.” Terezi had told herself as she sniffed and cried from burning sockets that shouldn't have still had the capabilities to produce water as they rotted in her skull. “W3 C4N B3 R3D.”

When she talked to Vriska about it later, she was laughed at. It was a defensive laughter that said that the more violent sister had nothing to say, or disliked whatever was proposed.

The rejection hurt, even if it was anticipated. 

If they couldn't be red and they hadn't been pale, then it left black. They touched so much and Vriska was her world, Terezi didn't know if she could stomach the thought. 

Ashen needed three, so maybe she could be ashen with Vriska and Kanaya but-

Terezi deserved to be happy too.

She hid herself away and focused all her efforts on her sense of smell. When she pinpointed what she thought her colors and finally undid the bandages around her eyes, and cried again, smelling both the half rotted flesh, and the red of her burned, dead eyes. 

She left in the day. The bright no longer hurt as long as she wore a cloak and hood. She had left a note for Vriska, informing her of what Terezi was doing, and that they would see each other again someday.

Terezi had left instructions for Vriska to be nice to her moirail. Her sister would have to do solo missions, yes. But she would be fine. She had somebody to stitch her up after every fight, and if she got tired of the meddling, she would no doubt find another. 

Vriska was strong. Vriska could move on. Vriska would always be her girl.

Terezi was strong. She did not look back. Maybe one day, her better half would settle down and make a difference. She couldn't bear the thought of Vriska running through life forever.

But it was her time. So Terezi left to become a lawyer, and Vriska would be left to do what she always did. Persevere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thanks for reading through my story. Feedback would be appreciated, as I can be a bit unclear with my writing at times. If I missed any grammar, please let me know as well. This is Terezi's story. I plan on having at least one chapter from each character's perspective, with many having multiple. I already have several written out and I just need to go back and edit them.


	2. The Knight and the Castle

Karkat knew it would happen eventually, but he had never expected it to be this soon. He had been in the brooding caverns his whole life, though that was only a measly 5 sweeps. It had always seemed distant and far away, before the time was suddenly upon him. 

Regardless, it was coming to be time. The Jadebloods that had found him and kept him tucked were, were busy far to often to spend time with him. The only things he had to do was read and watch movies.

Karkat was often told that he was meant to be great, that he was an inspiration. He knew he was just a trophy. Soon, the empress would be there to cull him and keep him locked up in a palace of gold, a house he had only seen in outdated movies and propaganda posters. 

He didn’t hate the Jadebloods for it. He simply couldn’t. They were his lusii, both in spirit and in the fact that he had no real custodian to speak of due to his blood color. The mutant red that ran through his veins really was the root of all his problems. That, or the society he was born into. 

But he couldn’t just sit there and become a doll. Not when he had read so many stories and watched so many movies that proved that he could be more than that.

Karkat couldn’t stop it, though. The Jadebloods hushed him whenever he mentioned wanting to stay with them or whenever he mentioned wanting to leave. The only thing they tolerated was him being culled by the Empress. But sometimes, when they thought he wasn’t looking and after he had asked the question, they gave each other wistful looks. 

When the empress took him, he wouldn’t even be able to see the grubs each season.

And she was taking him soon. When Karkat had woken up that morning, he was promptly pushed away to get washed, and then dressed in a fancy outfit his mother’s liked to dress him in when they weren’t too busy. But they were, and they were cooing over him even more than usual. 

“I’ll ma-e you brea-fast, dear.” Hybeag told him told as he was seated at the table. Adayna tapped his back until he straightened up. Then they carefully fed him, so as not to let him get anything on his outfit. He could have done it himself, but he felt a bit too anxious to argue like usual, instead allowing it, and even going to brush his fangs like they ordered.

When he emerged from the ablution trap, they had packed him a small bad. When Karkat started to make a fuss over bringing his movies and books with him, Adayna papped his head and told him that anything he needed would be provided.

He almost asked if the things he wanted would be provided too, but decided against it, quieting like he had been taught. Karkat sat on the couch, and waited for the Empress to appear. 

Eventually, she did. He was alerted to this by the increased whispering and murmuring from the Jadebloods. 

“)(e’s )(ere, you say? T)(e buoy, t)(at is.”

“Y3s, h1ghn3ss.” Adayna said, and she sounded more excited than Karkat thought she would be. Maybe they really did want to get rid of him. 

Then he saw the Empress. She wasn’t tall, but she still towered over him due to his young age and regrettably small stature. She wore jewelry all over and it jangled and clinked as she walked with swaying hips and precise, even movements. 

She walked up to him and bent down slightly, smiling. 

“)(i SW-E-ETI-E!” She laughed, face crinkling into something happy. He didn’t say anything back until he noticed Hybeag’s warning glare from behind and beside the Empress.

“HEY.” Karkat murmured, and she didn’t seem off-put by the mutants lack of excitement, instead turning to a guard he hadn’t previously noticed. The other troll- a tealblood maybe, picked up his bag and motioned for him to follow. Karkat glanced at his mothers. A few of them looked misty eyed as they beckoned for him to go. 

He wished he could have stayed, instead of becoming nothing more than a bragging right for the queen who could, allegedly, make anybody’s life better and more meaningful. He was already happy.

But Karkat had to follow, so he did. And soon, the Empress did as well, walking behind him as the guard moved to walk in front. Like they anticipated him to run. 

He didn’t The mutant stayed where he was supposed to, walking between them. He kept his head held high. Maybe if he was a good role model, they wouldn’t keep him locked up quite so long. 

They walked to a ship, and the Empress took the lead, walking up and onto it. She motioned for Karkat to follow. He did, glancing at the emotionless guard and shuddering. 

She led him to a seat and sat next to him, and Karkat stared at her. Her hair fell in waves, longer and curlier than he had ever seen on the Jadebloods. 

The ride passed in silence, and when he made no move to talk to her, she had somebody take him on a tour of the castle as soon as they got back. Then she left. 

Once Karkat managed to make the guards leave, he curled up by one of the windows and cried. Since he had gotten to the castle, he had been making escape plans in his head, but it was all worthless. He was too far up to jump like trolls did in movies. Unless he magically sprouted wings to fly away, he was stuck, and there were too many guards to leave from one of the exits.

He doubted he would ever see his mothers again, and the idea hurt. It hurt more than the bruises he would get when he was little and ran around. It hurt more than the time he had broken his arm trying to climb out of the caves when he was 3, just before he been confined in one of their makeshift houses for his last sweep. 

Nobody knew how long mutants lived, which was the reason he had been collected by the Empress at such a young age. The mutant had been kept in the caverns ever since he was spotted among the rest of his brood. The Jadebloods kept him for the first few sweeps to make sure there were no ill effects because of his mutation. 

He had wanted to stay there forever,

But he couldn't

And Karkat knew he would never see his mothers again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. Nobody liked my first chapter. Oh well. I have like loads where that came from, if I can ever retype and quirk this stuff.


	3. The Engineer and his Duty

Equius had received the olive as soon as he was of age. His blood color had secured him not only a secure place in life, but also a charge that he was to help progress in life. If she succeeded in adjusting to society, she would be permitted to join the ranks of the world. 

Other highbloods were often considered too busy or too volatile, leaving the care of lowbloods in the strong capable hands of the blue bloods. 

But she was already strong when she arrived. Strong and capable. He hadn't been told of why she had been up for culling, and it would be impolite to ask, but he was sure it had to do with how excitable she was. He was meant to calm her, though it was harder said than done. 

His manor was large. Certainly larger than he needed, and his charge seemed to delight in prowling around it, frightening his occasional visitors and servants while he stayed holed up in his workspace. Equius was fine with this for quite a while, as it kept her out of his hair and let him finish his tasks, and plan for what activities to give her later that perigree. 

Eventually however, she had gone too far, and lost him the support of a dignitary, who complained and refused to support Equius any longer. After assuring the troll than it wouldn't happen again, and humbling himself enough to plead for him not to call off other supporters, Equius went to Nepeta's room.

She was smiling when he arrived.

“Hi Equius! I nefur see you around anymurr.” She grinned, practically glowing, and he felt angry suddenly, while she could smile and prance and belong to something he had never known, he was stuck dealing with her aftermath. At his silence, her face fell, and he forced himself to push on with the argument, though it was only half formulated in his mind. 

“You must stop this tomfoolery, Nepeta! You have lost us support, from a very important highblood! I thought you might have calmed down by now, but clearly I was mistaken.” He scowled at her, clenching his fist before he turned to the side and punched the wall, leaving a dent and an injured hand in his wake. 

He turned to the door, stress rising until... Oh. Something soft and sweet and fierce touched the side of his face. It lacked what he figured a proper technique might have, but it only added to it's charm. He was hesitant to try and change her, when she was already so developed. If she were younger, maybe. But she was something before she had come to his hive... But she was so rambunctious and-

She made a soft shushing sound, and Equius staggered back, mortified over what had just transpired. Not only had he let his anger get control of him, something he had been working for sweeps to get under control, but she had... Papped him.

That type of relationship was forbidden.

He saw Nepeta step forward again, murmuring something in question. He couldn't hear her past the pulsing of blood in his ears, and when she took another step closer, he turned tail and fled. 

_________________________________________________________________

She found him again later, later a table and surrounded by scattered robot parts. He felt hyper-aware of her presence and how she moved. Some parts went clattering back as she moved to join him. 

He didn't move, and she didn't pap him, to his relief. 

It hadn't felt bad... But the situation... 

She opened her mouth, and then closed it upon looking at him again. The silence they sat in didn't seem overly tense, but it wasn't quite comfortable either. 

They never spoke, and later, they had dinner like usual and it went back to normal, with her bouncing around energetically, and him replying to her prodding with clipped answers.

But then she turned up again. And again. And slowly, it became a common occurrence.

Nepeta sat and watched, chattering in the background softly as he worked. Eventually, he began listening and adding in comments every once in a while.


	4. The Spirit and the Seamstress

Aradia awoke that night with a strange feeling tingling in her stomach. It was time to go. 

She sat up and looked down at the prone form of the empress leaning against her in the crowded little 'coon. Aradia moved her arm and blinked at the new scratches that had appeared overday. The queen of trolls shifted and looked up at her, blurry from sleep and her lack of goggles. 

“Black for you.” Feferi murmured as she changed positions in the recoopercoon. Even this far back in their relationship, she was resigned to the fact that Aradia had to follow the strange little urges that came about in the early hours of night. 

The rustblood smiled despite herself. She liked the queen better this way. When she was softer and smaller and didn't hold back quite as much. It almost reminded Aradia of something that hadn't happened yet. 

Or maybe it wouldn't happen at all. She could never be certain. 

She smoothed Feferi's mostly clean bangs back, brushing her claws along her forehead before making her way out of the 'coon. 

Feferi fell back asleep, and Aradia promised herself that she would see the empress later that day, though it would likely be years in the future from the seadweller's perspective. 

It depended on where the spirits wanted to direct her. That constant level of control had angered Aradia at first, but eventually, they had made arrangements. 

Aradia went where directed, and helped clean up messes and guide trolls in their destiny. She wasn't always a physical influence, but this section in history required a more... Delicate hand. 

She liked that the spirits gave her that choice. Sometimes they were strangers. Sometimes the voices were of those she had once helped. 

Aradia didn't know how old she was, just that she was older than she should have been. Though she knew it wouldn't last forever. 

She grabbed a bag of coins that sat on a desk. Perhaps this Feferi was older than the rustblood had thought, considering she was able to have that foresight. 

Then she walked through a doorway, arriving 612 years into the future, and arranged her thoughts on how to go about doing things. 

_______________________________________________________

Kanaya stood at a street corner, trying to buy some expensive-looking fabric. A small oliveblooded boy stared back up at her from the payment center. 

“How Much Would It Be If I Wished To Buy This?” Kanaya asked, and the boy frowned, seeming to consider something. 

“Y()u sh()uld be in the caves.” He said, glancing back at an adult tealblood who stood, restocking some stands. When the boy finally got a nod from what Kanaya assumed was his culler, he turned back to the jade and repeated the phrase with more certainty. 

She deflated slightly, but held the fabric close. “How Much Would It Be?”

“PaPePi says we sh()uld wait until an ()ffer is made t() us f()r that ()ne. Give it here. I'll Put it back.” The boy said slowly, and reached for it. 

Off from the side, a pudgy rustblood waltzed up, and dropped a bag of coins onto the stand, looking like she was going to laugh. 

“I'll buy the fabric f0r y0u.” She told Kanaya, and the jadeblood paused, furrowing her brow in disgust as she took in the other girl's outfit. The rust looked like she had just crawled out of a 'coon, and fought a wild lusus of some sort. 

Ignoring the look, the girl smile at the boy. 

“The bag sh0uld have all the m0ney y0u need.”

“But y()u're still in s()p()r!” He giggled. It seemed Kanaya wasn't the only one who noticed that. 

“0h! I must have f0rg0tten. Is it alright if we g0 s0 I can change?” She asked, and the olive took a moment to pull the bag of coins over and marvel at them before nodding. 

As they stepped away, Kanaya took another look at the girl, though she didn't gleam much more information from this than her initial judgment. 

“C0uld I by any chance wash up at y0ur hive?”

“Of Course.” Kanaya agreed, too curious with all that had just transpired to refuse her. The rust grinned and began walking in the direction of Kanaya's hive, which seemed quite unnerving.

“May I Ask Where You Procured The Money From?”

“I st0le it fr0m the empress.” Came the easy reply. 

“I... See.” Kanaya responded slowly. Lowerbloods weren't typically as volatile mentally as some bluebloods were, but she couldn't help but wonder if this rust was runaway cull-bait. 

“0h, d0n't be quite s0 nerv0us please, miss Kanaya. I'm just here t0 ask y0u s0mething.”

“The Fact That You Are Not At All Properly Dressed For The Night-”

“It slipped my mind.”

“-Coupled With The Knowledge That You Know My Name Without My Telling You Is Quite Distressing.”

“0h. Wh00ps.” She grinned, obviously not bothered by the comment as she hopped along the trail after Kanaya. 

“Who Are You?”

“S0meb0dy wh0 needs a fav0r.” She said, and Kanaya stopped short and frowned at her, adjusting her grip on her basket. The rust looked back, and her smile faded for a moment. 

“What Sort Of Favor Do You Need?”

“Y0ur'e clever. I'm s0rry. I can't tell y0u here.”

“But You Can Back At My Hive?”

The girl nodded, and continued skipping along once again. 

Kanaya hesitated, before following. 

_______________________________________________________

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, and once they arrived at Kanaya's hive, Aradia was ushered off to the only clean part of the floor. Kanaya spent a few moments digging through piles upon piles of outfits. After a while, some plain, silk clothes were pressed into her hands, and she found herself in an ablution trap. 

Aradia rolled her eyes and quickly washed herself off, making sure to get all the sopor slime off before she got dressed again. 

When she went to find her old ones, she found that Kanaya had already taken them. So she had to smile. Aradia typically didn't care about her clothes, but she knew enough about Kanaya that she was sure the old ones were being burned or something later than night. 

They had belonged to Feferi. 

It was the perfect crime. 

But, alas, Kanaya returned and Aradia sat down, finally ready to talk. 

“Are y0u ready? We can talk here.”

“I Sure Hope So, Considering This Is My Hive, And That You Have Already Promised That We Could.” Kanaya pulled over a seat, and Aradia took a moment to play with a bead on the sleeve. The outfit Kanaya had picked was comfortable. 

“That's right. The fav0r I need is f0r y0u t0 watch s0meb0dy. I w0n't lie t0 y0u. It's danger0us and y0u c0uld be hurt 0r killed if y0u were caught with them-”

“I'm Sorry, But... Who Are They?” Kanaya's tone edged on worried, but when Aradia looked at her, she was met with a set of beautifully determined, jade colored eyes. 

“Karkat Vantas. Mutant and cullee 0f the empress.” Aradia answered, and curiously enough, as opposed to making her draw back, this only made Kanaya look more interested. 

“Is He In Danger?”

“N0. But he is very imp0rtant. He can help.”

“Help With What?”

“He can st0p the cullings.” Aradia said. It was a half truth-no. More than that. It was a lie. It would lead to something more, but he couldn't stop them.

Lying didn't hurt anymore. It had, in the beginning, but it was necessary. Kanaya agreeing was necessary. 

“Why Would We Stop The Cullings?” Kanaya asked, but Aradia detected a hint of doubt already. 

“Are y0u really asking that? Y0u kn0w what I mean. Y0u've been in the caves. Y0u've seen wrigglers lives end bef0re it even starts. Kept aside and f0rced int0 the hands 0f pe0ple wh0 d0n't deserve them. He was st0pped bef0re he even pupated. He-”

“Stop.”

“Will y0u help?”

“... Yes.”

“Thank y0u.” Aradia stopped and stared at Kanaya gratefully. 

This part was never a lie. Aradia wondered sometimes, if the people she helped ever really realized what she did to them, or if when they became spirits and helped her, if they actually resented her.

She hoped not. She really did enjoy most of their company. 

“You Are Welcome... Could I Invite You To Stay The Night?”

“I'm s0rry but n0.” She answered, and rushed on upon seeing Kanaya's disappointed expression. “I will be back, th0ugh. I'll help y0u set up. I'll bring him t0 y0u, and I'll intr0duce y0u t0 pe0ple that will help keep him safe.”

Aradia stood before pausing. 

“I can keep these cl0thes, right?”

“Yes, You May.” Kanaya said, nodding along and smiling slightly. “Please Don't Ruin These Ones With Sopor.”

“N0 pr0mises, Kanaya, but I'm sure y0u c0uld fix them in whatever c0nditi0n they came back t0 y0u in.” She stood and laughed before hopping over the clothes piles to Kanay's door. “I'll be back!” Aradia shouted, before vanishing through it. 

On the other side, there was a large empty room, very similar to the one she had been in just a few hours prior. 

The rustblood slowly removed her outfit, hanging it up. Then she took down and put on a water resistant outfit for swimming that Feferi kept around because she thought it was cute. Aradia wouldn't usually bother with it, but she didn't want to inconvenience Kanaya. 

In the corner of the room, a walled off pool sat, and marine life buzzed around it, making the cutest little glubs and ribbits. 

She climbed the fence, and sat at the edge of the water. She dipped her toe in as fish scattered underneath the surface, and a frog jumped onto the tile with her.

Then, she waited.


	5. The Hermit and his Companions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I'm having some problems with the notes showing up at the end of this chapter even though I didn't put any there. The reason Nepeta and Equius' quirks were updated is because they're now moirails.

The sound of soft buzzing filled Tavros' ears, and he slowly returned to the waking world, the pleasant noise replacing that of the static that greeted him as he rose back to consciousness. When he finally opened his eyes, he glanced around for the source of the noise, and sure enough, found a few bugs dancing around in the ceiling, in little patches of light from the early moon. 

He slowly sat up and reached over, supporting himself with one hand as he reached for his chair. He couldn't easily buy sopor slime this far from town, but the pile of earth and his pillow offered at least some shielding from the violent nightmares that plagued the mostly peaceful troll population. 

Besides, it was much easier to simply brush off dust and reach his four-wheeled device from. 

And... There. Tavros pulled himself onto the chair with practiced ease, and scooped up a nearby meow beast lusus onto his lap. He often had the smaller and/or older lusii in and out of his hive, though occasionally a larger one would try seeker refuge inside. He had heard some shuffling last night like this was the case, but he didn't notice any obvious damage that had been done, so he continued on. 

The lusus in his lap purred and rubbed against him as he rolled to the kitchen table. 

He pet his idly as he reached out and brushed across the minds of animals in the surrounding area. Tinkerbull was nearby, and quickly made his way over to his charge, brushing against Tavros before turning and buzzing back with some food from a higher shelf. 

Tavros patted Tinkerbull's side and poured the oats for himself. Then he flicked a switch near the edge of the table. 

Grains and fruits poured down into little feeders along the walls, and chittering noises began as animals raced to it. The set up had taken forever, but it was worth it. The fruit often needed to be changed out, but the grains lasted a long time, and he had been lucky enough to happen upon a spring, where the shallows ran through a room in his house. The animals drank from that, and he occasionally took them out for baths.

He boiled the water as often as he could, and kept the area as clean as possible to keep it safe to drink. The lusii outside typically drank from deeper parts of the spring, and hunted for themselves. When one was hurt, he tended to it personally. 

It looked like he was getting low on the food currently, but that wasn't detrimental in the least. The ones that could hunt would hunt, the only ones he needed to watch out for at the moment were the elderly. So Tavros finished his meal, and wheeled himself out, and towards the woods. 

The troll took a path that had been carved up by larger creatures upon his request. He wasn't sure why most troll didn't reach out to their lusii or surrounding animals, as they were really quite intelligent. He understood that they didn't have the same connections, but most left their lusus early, and drove out and exterminated creatures that did nothing to them.

He sighed and picked some fruit, placing it into a bag at the side of his four wheeled device, lost in thought, before he felt a jolt of pain run through his mental connections. He quickly reached out to the area, and with permission, took over the mind of the animal closest to the source. As he looked through, he saw two trolls, one of which pinned down a small rabbit. Tavros had the nearest animals retreat, and quickly started rolling down to that part of the woods, mind racing. 

Most trolls stayed away from his section of the forest, warded off by rumors and people who probably thought him feral. At times, he would wonder why nobody had been sent after him, but that wasn't the correct train of thought to be on at the moment. 

As he neared, he began to hear a high pitched voice, and then a low rumble. He couldn't yet make out the words, so he reached out to another animal, this time splitting his attention and vision. 

“:33 < Don't be so silly! Nobody is going to purrt us here! We just need a quick snack.” The smaller troll grinned, her tone innocent compared to her sharp, blood soaked teeth. She still had the animal pinned, but other than one superficial injury-probably caused by said teeth-, it seemed more stunned than hurt. 

“D --> Nepeta, please.” The larger troll sighed, looking at the girl, who Tavros figured was named Nepeta. “D --> The town said there was a feral here. We must keep going.”

“:33 < But Petquius...” She huffed, turning back to focus on her prey. Tavros sped up, feeling his shoulders burn with the effort it took to get through the uncleared path. 

“D --> No buts, I-” But whatever the larger troll-Petquius? Was going to say, was cut off by Tavros finally arriving, out of breath.

“uH, wOULD YOU, mAYBE, pLEASE NOT KILL HIM?” He asked, panting. 

The two trolls turned to him, surprised, and in the greenbloods hesitation and surprise, the little animal-another rabbit it seemed-escaped. Tavros sighed in relief. 

“tHANK YOU, uH,” 

“D --> Please e%use us. We are just passing through.” The bloodblood stated, stepping slightly in front of Nepeta, who looked indignant, and quickly moved back into Tavros' vision. 

“:33 < Nepeta and Equius.” Nepeta introduced. “:33 < Are you the feral? You don't look that tough.” She grinned, taking another step forward. Equius sighed and took her arm lightly. 

“yEAH, uH, i'M CALLED THAT, sOMETIMES, i DON'T REALLY THINK, i AM THOUGH?” He reached down to his wheels and watched her warily. 

“D --> I apologize. You do not seem feral. Would you be willing to let us pass?”

“sURE, jUST, dON'T KILL ANY OF THE ANIMALS HERE, pLEASE,”

“:33 < But how are we supurrosed to eat? Beclaws I don't see anything else around murr.” Nepeta whined, before she was hushed by Equius, who began looking around. 

Tavros sighed, knowing he was going to regret this later. 

“wELL, i GUESS YOU COULD, cOME STAY AT MY HIVE, fOR A BIT, iF YOU NEEDED,” He suggested, and Nepeta grinned at him, before her look turned suspicious. 

“:33 < Does anyone else live with mew?”

“nO, jUST ME, aND THE ANIMALS,” He decided not to ask why she was suspicious. He supposed that if he was the one gallivanting around a forest he didn't know, he would be pretty suspicious too. “i HAVE FOOD,”

“D --> Would you allow us to think about it for a moment?” Equius asked, and then pulled the greenblood over once Tavros nodded. 

He sat back and tried not to listen, which proved easier to do once he started looking them over. They looked like they hadn't had a decent days sleep in nights, much less a shower. His hive may not have had water running inside, but washing in the stream or collecting and purifying rain water did wonders. If the two of them pitched in, he could even refill his food reserves more quickly.

He hoped they said yes. 

“:33 < What was your name again?” Nepeta asked, startling him out of his thoughts. 

“oH, i'M SORRY, i FORGOT TO TELL YOU, i'M tAVROS,”

“:33 < Well then, Tavros! We'll stay a while!”

“D --> We can earn our keep, as well.” Equius added in quietly. Tavros nodded and took a moment to turn himself around. 

“aLRIGHT, iT'S THIS WAY.” Tavros said, before he began rolling back down the path at a steady pace. Nepeta walked up and began chattering next to him, while Equius hung back some. 

His animals scurried about occasionally, sniffing at the new trolls. Nepeta seemed to notice the movement of each one, whether they were underfoot or in the overgrown bushes. Tavros made note of this, sure she grew up at least half feral herself, and tentatively explained his relationship with the animals to the two of them.

He hadn't talked that much in forever, and while it wasn't bad...

He had the feeling that it was going to be a long night.


	6. Sometimes Even A Knight Needs Rescuing

It had been a few sweeps. Karkat had stopped counting after the first one, and had instead begun dreading every day that he was stuck in the castle.

He was flaunted around during parties, and locked away in his room during the day. Everybody seemed so concerned that he would get hurt otherwise.

Being locked away for his own good was the only thing he could remember. It was probably the only thing that had ever happened to him. 

The empress was never even around to see him, leaving Karkat to the mercy of castle servants and guards who obviously wanted nothing to do with the queens charge. When she was around, she always looked sad, and if Karkat wasn't so furious, he might have felt sorry. 

His needs were met, sure. But he was stuck. His latest attempt at escaping as been foiled, much like all of his other plots. Karkat didn't have much hope for them anymore. Before, he was filled with wrigglerish rebellion. More recently, he just wanted out. 

The empress had arrived at the castle the night before, though she was likely going to leave that morning. The security had been upped and his eavesdropping didn't tell him that in time, so it was doomed from the start.

Once he was delivered back to his room, he began throwing DVDs at the wall, and broke everything he could. If he had to stay, he could at least inconvenience everybody who kept him locked away to be gawked at like some animal. 

So down went the TV, and down went one of the lamps. After surveying the piles of glass and other sharp objects, he grabbed another lamp, and hurled it at the window. Karkat stomped on his least favorite movies, knowing they'd just be replaced. 

“I HATE THIS!” He screamed when the door handle jiggled. He couldn't lock it himself, so he quickly shoved a desk at it just as it was opening up. “LEAVE. ME. ALONE!” He yelled, punctuating every word with a shove of the desk against the door. 

Then the thought hit him and he stopped. “I WANT MY MOMS.”

“Krkt Vnts! Open this door right this instnt!” Somebody yelled from the other side of the wall. 

“NO! I WANT TO LEAVE AND YOU SURE AS HELL AREN'T GOING TO HELP ME! SO YOU CAN'T COME IN.”

“I can, th0ugh. May I enter?” Asked a voice behind him, and he whipped around, hurriedly wiping his face. If it was an assassin or something, he wasn't going to go out crying. 

But if it was an assassin, it was the strangest one he'd ever seen, even if that was limited to what he'd seen in movies. What was in front of him was an old looking troll with scratches and half dried burgundy blood.

“WHAT THE-”

“I'm Aradia and I'm here t0 help y0u get 0ut.” She paused for a moment before grinning and laughing. “I like the mess by the way.”

Shouting came from behind the door, but Karkat found that he couldn't make any of it out. 

“We have t0 hurry.” Aradia told him, and grabbed his hand, tugging him to the broken window. She paused briefly to push out the frame, and then she dragged him onto the roof. 

“YOU'RE CRAZY!” Karkat called, yanking away from her and stumbling back. She simply shrugged and began walking further up onto the roof, ignoring his fumbling. He managed to catch his balance just in time, and slowly followed her, blood pumper hammering away in his chest as he realized just how high up he was. 

“Well? C0me 0n.” Aradia called from up ahead, and he scampered after her as quickly as he could. 

They entered through another window, and she turned down a hall and ran. He followed her, but they quickly ran into a dead end. 

As Aradia paused to get her bearings, at least he hoped that's what she was doing, the footfall of several trolls sounded through the hall adjacent to them. One paused at the corner and stared at them, seeming just as shocked and out of it as Karkat was. 

From his side, the rustblood giggled and prodded him towards the guard, before she ran ahead, barreling into the poor guy. Karkat hesitated, before darting past them and down a hall. He heard a thump far behind him, and in moments, Aradia was back at his side, running. 

He and the older girl ran through the halls until they came upon a large room with a fancy throne on it. The sound of clicking heels came from a hallway, and Karkat swiveled around to see the other direction-but guards had lined up in just the few seconds they had been standing there, blocking that direction off. 

“Aradia, w)(ere are you taking my little guppy?” The empress asked, and Karkat jerked to look at her, feeling sick. There was no way they were getting past that. 

After they were taken back in, and Aradia probably imprisoned, they would up the guards. He would be stuck in his room forever and he wouldn't even be able to make his little mock escape plans. They would block all of the exits and he would never get out again and-

“Ar0und.” Aradia stated, sounding amused. Karkat wanted to scream at or strangle her, she was being so stupid. He opened his mouth to voice that, before it simply hung open in surprise because.

She just attacked the empress. Aradia's blunt claws scraped across her cheek, and their teeth met in a kiss before they shoved each other back. They were like a textbook spade relationship, and upon looking around, it seemed like he wasn't the only one bewildered about the whole thing. 

Karkat didn't have much time to think about it before Aradia had returned to his side, grabbing his hand and yanking him towards the door as she ran. 

“Black f0r y0u!” She called back, and Karkat heard the beginning of a shrill scream from the empress before the doors opened and everything disappeared. 

Karkat braced himself for an impact, but the only thing he ran into was a soft pile of clothes in a little room that was definitely not in the courtyard of the castle. 

He reeled back, dazed, and looked up at Aradia as he rubbed his arm. She looked distracted. 

“The lady here will help y0u. Tell her Aradia sent y0u, 0kay?” The lady asked, but didn't wait for an answer before she hurried back through the door and vanished. 

A pretty troll looked in at the room, carrying a tube of lipstick almost threateningly. He would have been intimidated if it hadn't been for the obvious jade coloring adorning her outfit. 

Karkat stood slowly, wanting to cry for the umpteenth time that night. 

“Are You Karkat?” She asked, quickly noticing him. 

He nodded and looked at her eyes. She wasn't who he was used to, in fact, Karkat was sure he had never seen her before. 

But the color was the same as his moms, and he moved to her slowly. When he reached her side, she gently ushered him into another room, and them to a table. 

“I Made Some Soup. I Had A Feeling That You Were Going To Arrive Soon.”

Karkat didn't understand what she meant, but accepted the soup with little fuss. She must have seen his look, because she sat down, and began to explain what she knew. 

He could live with that.


	7. Maid of love

Karkat was strange. It wasn't hard for Kanaya to guess how he had been brought up. She had been given the basics of course, but the way he reacted to things showed just how sheltered he was. She almost resented him for it, but the honest surprise he showed whenever he did something taboo or got hurt was achingly familiar, and Kanaya didn't have the heart to do anything other than tell him what was wrong in hopes that he would catch on. 

Karkat wasn't quite spoiled. He whined and threw tantrums when he didn't get his way, but when she told him that he could go outside and play with other wrigglers as long as he didn't tell them his name or blood color, he shook with anticipation and stayed outside until the sun burned his skin. When she brought him inside on that particular occasion, he clung to her and asked if he would still be allowed out. 

She was hesitant to allow it, but he was maturing at a surprisingly quick rate. It wasn't that he hadn't been mature in the first place, because the things he told her about politics and quadrants made her head spin, but he was so unused to the social interactions and the workings of the outside world, that she had to give it thought. 

So while hesitant, Kanaya had agreed, and with a few more terms set, Karkat went back outside.

It couldn't last forever though, and eventually they had to move. 

Aradia had visited, and she looked older than the last time Kanaya had seen her. It wasn't so much physical as it was the way she held herself, and the tired tired smiles she offered that didn't quite reach her eyes. 

“They kn0w where y0u are,” Aradia said. “Y0u must m0ve t0m0rr0w.”

“How Do They Know?” Kanaya asked in response. She didn't doubt Aradia's words, but she wanted something concrete. 

“She has her ways.” Was the vague answer, and Kanaya was rather miffed that it didn't help put anything into perspective. 

When more prodding didn't reveal anything, Kanaya eventually let her be, and instead considered the problem of supplies. As much as she loved her fabric, there wasn't enough room to take it with her, which meant she would have to part with it. 

She knew she could sell some at a good price but...

“Can You Take Any With You?” The jadeblood asked, staring out at her cluttered floor. She was met with an unreadable look. 

“I live with the empress.”

“And She Would-?”

“She w0uld tear it up, pr0bably and...” Aradia paused, trailing off for a moment. She tilted her head as if listening to something, before she let out a puff of air and leaned close. 

“We w0nt last much l0nger,” The rustblood said, voice tired and not quite her own. She leaned back and stared at the seamstress with a dull expression. “I'm s0rry. I w0n't be able t0 bring it back s00n.”

Kanaya stared, putting the implications together. She didn't like the picture she was getting. 

“I See... You Mean You Are-”

“There's 0nly s0 many messes I can clean up,” She said, and smiled like she was sharing a joke. 

Kanaya didn't think it was very funny.

“But Surely, I Can Still Dress You Up For Now?”

“I...” The rustblood paused, looking truly surprised. “Y0u c0uld.”

“Then I Will,” Kanaya said simply, and then went to send Karkat to pack rather than play. 

Once she made sure he wasn't grabbing every DVD in sight, she managed the food, putting it into a basket under some light cloth. Once everything was packed aside from that, she returned to the living room, where Aradia was helping Karkat choose some outfits. 

“Would You Like To Wear Some Now?” Kanaya asked, and Karkat glanced between them before scurrying off with an armful of shirts and pants. 

It took a while to find some Aradia seemed to actually like, but eventually the jadeblood was able to find the right combination of colors and material that would suit her. 

“Like this?” The girl asked each time she tried some of the chosen outfit on. She looked absolutely stunning in any color, so Kanaya laughed and agreed, and stepped up to help adjust it. 

“Exactly Like That,” Kanaya said at one point, and was met with Aradia ramming her mouth against her own. 

It was something that Kanaya was sure was supposed to be a kiss, but it was fast and Aradia threatened to clack Kanaya with her horns, and she was very close to hitting her nose. 

She reeled back, shocked. 

“What Are You Doing?!” 

“Is... Is that n0t what we were g0ing f0r?”

“I Was Not Aware We Were Going For Anything At All.”

“Oh,” And then, “I'm sorry.”

The tone struck her as odd, and the way that the fondness and sheer pity crept into her chest like a familiar present from somebody who disappeared ages ago...

“We Can Try This One.” Kanaya said matter of factly, and stepped forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Aradia's forehead. 

____________________________________________________________

Aradia stayed for the next several nights, and helped stand guard as they packed and raced from building to building.

Kanaya hated uprooting Karkat like that, and she was sure she had caught him crying at some point, but it was for the best. He would be in danger if they stayed. They both would.

It was like that for two more sweeps. Aradia dropped in and gave them locations of trolls who had grown up hating society, and didn't ask questions when somebody came by their hive seeking shelter. 

Sometimes she would stay and the two of them would share sweet touches. Kanaya and her maid would sit together, and they would take turns reading to Karkat. Aradia and her seamstress would play dress up like they were wrigglers who had nothing in the world to worry about. 

Sometimes when Aradia came, she came bearing scratches and limped, and sometimes she came with pink under her claws and a smile that made Kanaya shake. But when she was there it didn't feel so crazy, and she stopped regretting the half baked dreams that came to her at night, of a world where she never left home. Of a world that she knew didn't exist. And of a world that could maybe exist somewhere, where she was a child, and learned everything so much faster.

But she could never regret taking in Karkat.

Their relationship never went much deeper than that, but Kanaya longed for the rustblood whenever they were apart. It made her sick to feel like that again, when one had already left her with a broken heart, but Aradia was lasting much longer than Kanaya had expected, both in love and in life, despite the implications she had once given that suggested otherwise. 

At least, she had thought so, until one day, Aradia asked to meet her, ignoring Karkat who sat on the side and watched the two pass through the cramped little hive that served as their current hideaway. 

“I'm s0rry.” She told Kanaya, leaning against her. 

Then she left.

Kanaya waited with baited breaths, but as they moved from hive to hive, Aradia never returned. 

But it had happened before, and Kanaya was stronger because of it.

Probably. 

It was after that that the empress picked up the pace, moving to counter something Kanaya wasn't sure of.

The jadeblood took her 'son' around Beforus, moving around with more and more frequency. Soon, they had traveled the country, and they had seen almost everything. 

During one of these rounds, as they neared her old hive but stayed on the outskirts of the town, Karkat befriended a little yellowblood, and the two hit it off. She was surprised at how well they got along, what with Karkat's temper and general lack of trust, but she was happy for him.

But then Karkat fell while playing with the boy, and from what she understood from his panicked sobbing, Sollux had witnessed his blood color and had put two and two together. 

Rather than turning them in, Sollux had approached them in the middle of their frantic packing, and asked about Karkat's wounds. It was a nasty fall, one on is leg and one on his elbow, but he would live.

At the apparent lack of danger, and the convincing arguments from Karkat, they stayed for a little longer.

Sollux was battery bait, as they called it. He was a psionic just waiting to be taken away to recharge a battery and roam around with others in a gilded cage for the rest of his natural born life. It was worse for the higher powered ones, where the empress herself would take interest and keep her prided possessions alive and healthy, well past their natural lives. 

Supposedly it was nice, and nobody had the guts to stand up to the queen. Kanaya wouldn't have been surprised if the empress actually thought it merciful, but it was terrifying to the wrigglers.

So when they moved again, Sollux came with them. 

Eventually, the two of them grew, and Karkat began telling other children and the younger trolls who would listen about culling. There were plenty of more conservative neighborhoods, with highblood who dimply didn't care, but there were also plenty of those who would listen, whether they were escapes, orphaned, or even culled trolls themselves. 

There were willing and listening ears, and eventually it caused a ruckus.

Karkat became famous for his speeches, and eventually, they had supporters.


	8. A Mermaid's Tail

Eridan waited outside the room of the most powerful troll on Beforus. He waited on his moirail.

He had known her forever, since long before the radar had picked her up. Eridan had known her since she was a little troll of 3 sweeps who didn't have a lusus, just cuddle fish who swam around and hid with her as he clung onto the back of his dad. 

He had assumed then that she was a violet. He had never seen a tyrian, and she didn't have any signs or clothing to show off her sign, just bundles of seaweed and coral adorning her like she was one of his neighbors playing dress up again. 

It had taken him forever to get her close enough to talk to, and even longer for her to stay long enough to answer. 

She was so incredibly shy, and just a hair short of feral. If it hadn't been for her jumbled, quiet words, he would have had a lot more trouble. The hungry way she eyed some fish twice her size scared him at first, until he managed to convince her to eat other, more civilized things. Not that fish were bad, but she tended to make quite a mess of blood, and that just attracted hungry lusii. 

As it was, Eridan spent sweeps dedicated to her in his youth. 

He learned her name and taught Feferi everything he could about other trolls. When she could finally get through a conversation without dropping off, distracted, he moved onto the next step. 

It took forever, but he managed to get her to the surface, where he resided for the most part. He was a bit odd as far as sea dwellers went, constantly above water. The fact that he talked with the nearby land dwellers and stayed alone near the shallows didn't help either. Eridan had heard rumors of his gills not working, that he was a few shades too indigo to function in the deeps, that the streak in his hair was a mutation that went just past cosmetic and messed with his head. But they were all obviously wrong, and anybody who said things like that needed to mind their own business. 

When Feferi walked up, clumsy out of the water, she fell and cut her knee open. Eridan scooped her up onto the back of his lusus, and hugged her until she stopped crying. He didn't even notice her blood color until a bit later, when his dads neighing finally got his attention.

Everything had clicked into place for him. The current queen was a bit of a loon. She was old, obviously older than everybody else, and he had to wonder just how old that was for somebody of her cast. Nobody listened to the old hag anymore, and instead looked to the older highbloods who ran the show, specifically purples and clowns. 

Eridan wasn't quite sure what the clowns told everybody to do, and he didn't really have anybody to ask. Most sea trolls had retreated further into the deeps, especially the older ones, as soon as the queen started going mad. 

But a new heiress was there, wrapped up in his arms. He had heard of another one once, from some older purples who laughed and rode stupid one wheeled devices. When he asked what happened to her, they just honked and laughed, and he eventually went back to ask his lusus, who wouldn't tell him either.

Eridan got the sinking suspicion that it wasn't good, and hugged her closer, ignoring her squeak of surprise. Then he invited her into his hive, where nobody would bother or hurt them.

Her hair was long and he was certain it had never been cut. Feferi let things swim and hide in her long locks, and methodically checked to make sure all the fish were out before she climbed onto land. Oftentimes, coral and seaweed and all sorta of other little treasures were lost and caught within it. He loved to sit with her and help brush it out. 

He went out and got her some proper outfits, and though she spent the majority of her time underwater, she often came up to his hive to learn more about other trolls. 

After that, she started going out to meet others. 

Eridan was always hesitant of this. He hadn't ever had the best experiences with the trolls on the beach, and he had gotten caught in their stupid trash and unregulated pollution more than once, but whenever he voiced his thoughts to Feferi, she simply gave him a sweet pale kiss on his cheek and went off. 

He took solace in the fact that at least she knew how to defend herself. 

Feferi prances around with rusts, greens, and even a few teals, though he discourages her from associating with most blues. Eventually though, her rust friends stopped showing up, and her teals turned away with sullen looks, holing themselves up in reading centers. 

Sweeps later, when the policies he distantly heard of went too far, and they stopped seeing lowerblooded trolls at all, the two of them took to the streets and stormed the castle. Feferi took charge, and Eridan shot whoever didn't let them through, though surprisingly few people seemed to even pose a threat to them. Trolls simply stepped aside as Feferi, adorned in coral the color of her blood, and fury that radiated ten feet stormed past with an elegance Eridan hadn't ever known her to have. 

Feferi was bubble, sweet, and terrifying. She killed the old queen, and sat upon the throne, only to cry into his arms the night after the coronation. 

Eridan became her dignitary, her adviser, and her official moirail. He was afraid to leave her alone in the castle for sweeps, because even if she had guards, what was to stop them from simply stepping aside, like they did when they attacked the old queen? What if they just let a new little princess march in?

What if they didn't?

He was scared of this up until he found her with a little rust. A sweet thing who had killed some trolls armed with weapons and dressed like assassins in some wriggler's story. 

But she was gone the next day, and when Eridan asked, he was subjected to a rant about his moirails new pitch partner that went on for hours. 

He didn't know much about the mysterious Aradia, and he only met her a few times since then, but after that night, he felt much more secure about leaving Feferi alone. 

Aradia had continued to show up for sweeps, and seemed to be older than some bluebloods that the dignitary knew. 

He had talked with the rustblood on a few occasions. Sometimes he walked into the room to find them curled up together. Once he walked in, and quickly walked back out, knocking each time after that. 

Once, he let himself in, and sat with Aradia as she stroked his feeling moirails hair. They had quietly discussed the kingdom, and the sweet princess between them. They they told jokes, and Aradia told him about a time when she was a wriggler, who dug up little graves, and lived by herself. 

She had told him that she liked the silence sometimes. Eridan didn't understand the significance of it, but it was a nice conversation, and he felt like he'd learned something even Feferi hadn't. 

But his sweet Feferi had become more and more furious over those sweeps. It was still a healthy, or mostly healthy, relationship as far as he could tell, but the fact that it was mixed with her royal duties, and the piles upon piles of work she had didn't bode well for the side effects of black romance hate. The constant stress of the empire didn't bode well for her either.

She cried to him often, lamenting on how she didn't want to become her cruel ancestor, but as time went on, and she talked of things he was sure were planted in her head by some third party, he was afraid that was just what she would become. 

Presently, after her mutant ha escaped and people quit taking her seriously, she had requested his presence. 

When he was finally allowed inside, he walked in and looked at her. Feferi's eyes were crinkles and it hurt his bloodpumper to think of what worried her so much.

It didn't take long for her to take his hand. 

“Aradia is gone,” She said, shaking. 

“I need an heir,” She murmured with finality, bracelets clinking together quietly on her wrists, which were thinner than her usual sweet plumpness. She hadn't been eating. 

When she began crying, he wrapped his arms around her, and they sat together until she got up, pulling at her hair and murmuring about paperwork.


	9. Birds and the Bees (and a Kitty Too)

Equius hadn't liked her when they first met. In fact, he didn't even tolerate her for almost a sweep.

It was something that was easy to spot, and initially made him hard to warm up to. But now, they were closer than ever. Nepeta suspected that it was the closest Equius had even gotten to somebody emotionally. He had seemed detached, even to his lusus.

Nepeta had been raised in the woods, was practically bred for it in fact. When she and her lusus were found, and she was declared 'feral', she was quickly whisked away from her mom and was dumped on Equius' doorstep to be culled. 

She never did learn what happened to Pounce, and she had acted up, spiteful of Equius up until the little crush shone through. 

He was nice, but he had anger issues. He had never hurt her, and she doubted he'd even be able to, but the one time he did come close to it, he hid himself away and avoided her for a perigee. 

Equius was also rather squeamish though. He, nor Tavros for that matter, liked killing. This irked her more than any of his other quirks, since she had been hunting and eating animals since she could walk.

In Equius' hive, she was stuck. She could paint, which was nice. Nepeta had always wanted to sell some art, but in the overly strict household, there was no way she could go out and roam. 

In Tavros' hive, while she couldn't kill anything, there was much more freedom. It reminded her of home, and she enjoyed it. 

The other two preferred a more vegetarian lifestyle, much to her displeasure, but trolls could only go without so much meat, and they were running out of protein supplies. 

And her meat. 

Both problems could easily be solved. She knew it, Equius knew it, and Tavros knew it, but they both insisted on doing things the hard way. Which is why she was roped into going to the store with some cash Tavros had given her. 

Secretly, Nepeta was bringing a painting she'd made out of bright red berry juice, based on one of Tavros' more exotic lusii, to try and sell. All around, she had high hopes for the day. 

So the oliveblood stalked through the woods, painting in tow. When she could start to smell chemicals and gas, she decided that she was close enough to warrant a snack of tweet beats.

Nepeta left her more cumbersome items under a tree, and hunted for prey. She quickly found a tweet beast, and steadied herself, dropping onto all fours like her lusus used to. She prowled around he underbrush, adapting like liquid as she twisted around stumped and slipped into crevices, before she leapt and caught it as it tried to take off.

The oliveblood killed it without much ceremony, going back to her things before she cut off some parts of it to snack on. She figured she could always try selling the rest. 

Then she marched into town, earning some off looks even though she wasn't stopped as she strolled into the shopping center. 

First, Nepeta purchased the items she had been sent for, and then began trying to sell the rest. Once directed to a butcher shop that gladly took her leftover meat for a bit of cash, she went out to try and interest trolls on the street in her painting. 

It didn't take though, and almost nobody gave her a passing glance. Those who did look over jeered and asked where her culler was.

One threatened to call some nearby guards if she didn't hightail it out of there. 

Eventually, the cat troll was forced to move, but as she picked up the wood of her painting and began leaving, a shopkeeper abruptly threw a ball of something at her. 

Nepeta skittered away at first, yowling and looking at the shopkeeper-a teal girl, or close at least-and rolled up her sleeves, ready for a fight. But the teal shook her head slowly and pointed back to the bundle of... something before returning to her work. 

The girl looked down, sure that the sight of a midblood such as herself trying to seek things out on the street wasn't that uncommon. 

What was strange, was the note that fell out of the bundle of fabric when Nepeta untangled it. She scooped it up and hauled her paint over to a nearby alley to read it. 

'Tthree lefTts and a righTt from Tthe enTtrance Tto Tthe shopping cenTter.'

Curious, Nepeta decided to follow the directions. The boys wouldn't be too worried if she was late.

Well, they would. But she didn't care.

The directions lead her to a rather crowded alley. It was dark and closed off, and there was a shade up above it. Probably due to some safety regulation the empress had made on a whim. 

One that made her look nicer and would win the public over. 

The gathered trolls shifted around, murmuring to each other in a hushed chatter. Most of them looked as clueless as Nepeta felt. 

“I BET YOU'RE WONDERING WHY I GATHERED YOU ALL HERE TODAY.” Declared somebody dressed in gray, up in front of the crowd.

There were some murmurs of ascent, and some laughs before the crowd went quiet. 

“WE ARE HERE TO ADDRESS CULLING. GO NOW IF YOU WANT, OR SIT HERE AND LEARN A THING OR TWO.”

Nobody left, interest peaked. Nepeta glanced around and found mostly midbloods and lower, with the occasion teal. Like the one who had pointed her in the direction of the meeting. 

It was the perfect audience for this topic in particular. She couldn't help but find herself intrigued.

“TODAY, WE ARE FACED WITH SOMETHING THAT'S NOT QUITE SLAVERY, BUT NOT FREEDOM EITHER. TROLLS ARE FORCED INTO HIVES THAT THEY OFTENTIMES DON'T WISH TO BE IN, AND EVERYBODY IS KEPT UNDER LOCK AND KEY AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD IS KEPT FAR AWAY FROM THEM.”

The fiery troll went on to describe what the world could be, and how they were on the path to greatness. How even those who weren't culled were either in danger of it, or were kept above it, culling others and joining in the cruel circle. 

It seemed like he was talking to every individual, and answered every question before anybody had the time to think of it. 

“IT'S NOT THE SAME FOR EVERYBODY. IN MANY CASES, EVERYTHING IS FINE. SOME TROLLS CAN BENEFIT FROM BEING CULLED. BUT SOME DON'T NEED IT FOREVER. EVEN THOSE WHO ARE RELEASED FROM IT ONCE THEY NO LONGER NEED HELP CAN'T SURVIVE BECAUSE THEY NEVER FUCKING LEARNED HOW. THE EXTREMES IT GOES TO AREN'T STOPPED BECAUSE THERE'S NO REGULATIONS. IT IS NOT PERFECT, DESPITE WHAT THE PROPAGANDA SAYS.”

He talked until his voice was raspy, and the sun had risen, making the shaded alley even darker. 

Finally, he stopped, and the crowd was silent for all of a minute before they burst into excited talking and noise that could barely be understood. 

Enticed, Nepeta stayed and listened to everything she could make out, shifting her hold on her painting every so often. 

After what felt like forever, people began to disperse. Nepeta made her way through the crowd to try and talk to the already retreating figure, but was stopped by a tall lanky troll with two sets of horns. 

“He doe2n't 2ee people after the 2how. 2orry kiid.” The troll stated matter of factly, and she harrumphed. 

“But you do, Mr...?” The new troll seemed nice. If she couldn't get back to see the one dressed in gray, she was she that she could have a little fun with him instead.

“2ollux. And no, ii'm-”

“You're what, Mr. Pawlux?” Nepeta purred, leaning closer. Sollux glanced away, much to her disappointment. 

Ii'm leaviing, iis what ii'm doing.”

“So soon?” Nepeta cradled the painting in her arms and tilted her head at him sadly. He paused, and she smirked inwardly. Mr. Pawlux was fun. The perfect prey, and she was on the hunt. 

“Yeah. Ii need to get two my friiend.” 

“Can't he wait? The mighty huntress would be purrty pleased if mew would take a look at her painting.” Nepeta stated, thinking fast. She had already sold the animal, so this was her only other offering. 

Much to her delight, after some hesitation, he took the bait.

“Alriight, let me 2ee...” Sollux examined the painting, squinting at it from behind his red and blue glasses. Nepeta watched, trying to find his actual pupils, to no avail. 

“Thii2... ii2 actually pretty good.” He said, surprised, and she grinned at him.

“Did you think the mighty huntress wouldn't have clawity work?”

“Ii...” Sollux shifted uncomfortably. Nepeta was sure she saw him blush. “Were you 2elliing thii2 earliier? Ii think ii 2aw you.”

“I was.”

“Ii'll buy iit, iif iit'2 2tiil for 2ale.” Sollux said. 

This made her pause, for just a moment. 

“It is.” Nepeta confirmed.

“How much?” Sollux asked, shifting uncomfortably. 

She told him a number that was clearly overpriced, and was shocked into silence when he pulled out the cash. 

“What wa2 your name agaiin?” Sollux asked, now in the lead of their little game. 

“Nepeta. Leijon.”

“2ollux Captor. Do you liive around here?”

Nepeta quickly composed herself, not about to be outdone. 

“Maybe. Are mew suggesting something?”

“Ii miight bee.”

“Day after tomurrow, outside of town?” Nepeta inquired, shaking slightly from excitement. 

“Whiich 2iide? Ii'm free around thii2 tiime that day.”

“West.” Nepeta said, fiddling with the money before she got the sense to tuck it away with her purchases from earlier. Sollux flashed her a toothy grin before he left.

She began heading back, ecstatic. She had so much to tell Equius!


	10. Fish Out of Water

Sollux had been in luck ever since Karkat and his mother picked him up from his backwards town, and towed him along on the longest road trip of his short life. 

His luck was fleeting. He was sure sometimes that it didn't exist, but Sollux didn't know how else to explain how he had two of our four quadrants filled. 

Karkat, his moirail, was a force of nature. He could scream and claw his way to Alternia's moons and back with sheer stubbornness. While it was screamed and sometimes left Sollux with a migraine, everything he said was creative and new-and is moirail said quite a lot of things. 

But even the migraines were slightly less bad than if he was alone, because it then invited Karkat and Nepeta to curl up with him as it passed.

Nepeta was quite the catch as well. The goldblood had managed to meet her at one of Karkats rallies, and after they met once or twice, he even managed to convince his new matesprit to join their little group. 

She was happy and devious and she agreed with Karkat just as often as she fought and argued with him. 

Another upside was her coming with her moirail. While Sollux didn't really like the guy, Equius was good at fixing devices that the others-mainly Karkat-broke, which meant that Sollux wasn't needed for every little thing anymore. 

Plus, both of them joining the group meant there were two more added to the party. And that just sat right with him. 

Of course that also meant more social interaction than Sollux was comfortable with, even if most of the time it was just his moirail and matesprit. Luckily, Kanaya often let him hide away in the corner of whatever room she was sewing in. She had mentioned that Karkat used to do the same thing.

Looking at his moirail, Sollux couldn't conjure that mental image, but he also couldn't place the image of Karkat being the same mutant that the empress had culled, so who was he to judge?

Well, obviously some people needed to be judged. Like the arrogant troll on the other isle of the shopping center. 

The guy was a pompous jerk from what Sollux had seen, and wasn't taking no for an answer, even after the pathetic store clerk told him that they didn't have whatever it was the guy was looking for. 

Sollux hadn't been paying attention to that part. In fact he had been trying to stay out of it until that point, but the guy was just so loud and obnoxious. 

“Do you knoww wwho I am?” He asked the clerk, and oh hell no. He was not going to pull that card just because he was some high up. 

“That'2 enough.” Sollux stated firmly, walking over. The clerk gave hi ma grateful look, which Sollux ignored.

“Wwhat?” The rich guy asked-and he had the audacity to sound offended. 

“You can't ju2t pull a 'ii'm better than you' whenever you don't get your way, iidiiot.” And great. Now he was sounding like Karkat. 

“Wwhat did you call me?!” The asshole asked, turning.

“Oh, 2o you're hard of heariing now? Ii2 that your problem? Becau2e obviiou2ly you can't tell that thii2 2tore doe2n't have whatever 2tupiid iitem you're lookiing for.” Sollux replied, taking a moment to glance over the other troll. His eyes found their way to the purple garb the other wore.

Oh. He may have gotten in over his head, but it was too late to turn back now. 

“Wwell maybe they should get it.” The highblood huffed, scowling. 

“And what? You'll 2tand here? Don't you have better thiing2 two do? Liike kii22iing up to the empre22'2-” Sollux smirked as he was cut off by the highblood, who was practically shaking with rage. The store clerk looked terrified, which Sollux took as an added bonus. 

“Wwhat?! You did not just insult Fef like that! That's practic'lly treason.” The rage turned to confusion, and Sollux found the gawking confusion of the other troll to be...

He wasn't quite sure what he found it to be. 

“Nah,” The goldblood shrugged, brushing those thoughts off as well as he could. “2he'2 hiigh and merciiful, riight? And ii'm 2ure 2he wouldn't liike you 2cariing twerp2 liike hiim, would 2he?” He gestured to the clerk, snickering. The highblood looked ready to murder somebody, and Sollux found that he wasn't doing a very good job at clearing his mind of those thoughts. The sight gave him something he wasn't sure what to do with. It wasn't like what he had with his quadrants, but it felt close, and it was something he was sure he'd felt hintings of towards them before. 

Karkat was always complaining about him vacillating his quadrants... Then again, he complained about everything. 

“Wwell at least I'm not some lowwblooded scum wwith a lisp who probably sits around all day wwishing he-”

Sollux didn't even let him finish before he flung himself at the other troll, kissing the idiots surprisingly soft lips. The seadweller pressed back, much to Sollux's surprise, and grabbed his arm, and then his hair as the violetblood deepened the kiss. 

The store clerk, apparently seeing his moment, fled. 

The only thing Sollux could think about other than the cold hand on him was about how much of an absolute idiot he was sometimes. Who in their right mind just kissed random people after yelling at them? Especially people who probably already had quadrants and high ranks and-Sollux Captor apparently did, a troll who couldn't even pronounce his own name and-

After what felt like forever, but was probably only a minute, if even that, they stepped away from each other, shaking and panting ever so slightly. 

Sollux eyed the troll across from him curiously. Since he hadn't been arrested or culled or something, then maybe he was right about this being a black thing. Plus, he felt oddly satisfied about seeing a bite mark on the others lip. The goldblood reached over, across the divide between them, and smeared the purple blood down from the others lip, to his chin. Then he looked at his hand. 

“You're disgustin'.” The highblood snapped. Ha. As if he hadn't enjoyed it as much as Sollux. Or maybe more, considering how flustered he looked. 

“2ure, 2ure. 2o what'2 your name, priince22?” Sollux felt his bloodpumper hammering away at his chest. 

“Eridan. Eridan Ampora.” It wasn't fair. Eridan didn't seem all that nervous anymore. He even smoothed his hair back like he was on TV or something. 

“Oh. Aren't you the empre22e2 mutt? Liike the one alway2 followiing after her liike a lo2t barkbea2t whenever 2he'2 out 2omewhere?” 

“You're hilarious. Are wwe done glubbin' here, or wwhat?” Eridan sniffed haughtily. 

“Or what.” Sollux crossed his arms. The violetblood paused, and glanced him over before looking back at his hand and twisting his ring, blushing faintly. 

“Wwhat wwas your name again?”

“2ollux Captor.” Sollux said, too enraptured in trying to pin down why Eridan was blushing to come up with anything but the truth. 

“Fine.”

“Fiine.” A pause. “Wanna meet up 2omewhere later?”

“I... I'm busy.” Eridan started, glancing to the side. 

“You don't want two 2ee me agaiin?” If he didn't, Sollux wouldn't blame him. But the violetblood was kind of cute... And hateable. 

“That's not... Wwhere?” Eridan asked, and Sollux blinked, honestly surprised for a moment before he smirked and stepped closer. Eridan's fin twitched and he blushed a darker shade of purple as Sollux whispered the location to him. And if that wasn't the cutest thing...

“-And ii'll warn you now. Iif ii thiink you're a danger to my friiend2, ii don't care how popular you are, or who you know. You're goiing down.” Sollux said darkly, purposefully sparking a bit at the last statement. 

Eridan furrowed his brow, puzzled, but Sollux refused to clarify anymore, too busy with trying to figure out just how much makeup the other had on. 

“... I'm shore it wwon't be a problem.” Eridan stated, almost nervously. 

“Ii hope not. You're my catch of the day, after all.” Sollux grinned his most obnoxious grin. 

“Fine.” Eridan said, finally meeting his eyes again, though he didn't stop twisting his ring. 

Sollux nodded and turned on his heel, high on hate, and waltzed out of the store. 

On his walk to their current base, he realized two key things. 

1.He had just given the empress' moirail the location of Karkats next rebellion speech, and then threatened him, of all things.

And 2. He forgot the groceries.


	11. The Prince of Decisions

They called him the Orphaner. The Dignitary. And sometimes, the empresses little woofbeast. It all depended on the formality of the situation, and how clever the troll felt that day. Eridan despised them all, but took up their comments, and tossed them back to show that they couldn't bother them. 

They could, though, and oftentimes did. It tended to encourage the sea dweller to try harder.

Eridan had known Feferi forever, and when he was little, he had been much more excited than she had been to be something royal. To be the moirail of the empress herself. 

But that feeling he'd had as a wriggler had dwindled to nearly nothing as he dealt with officials and heard the mockery from the streets. 

His titles were not for nothing, however. He worked both under, and behind the empress' back, flaunting his wealth and power where he needed to. His greatest alley and greatest enemy was Gamzee, the clown leader who supplied his workforce. Eridan used the trolls under his watch to regulate who was where, and who needed to be where. Just as Feferi ̶o̶r̶d̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ requested. It was really just a nice way of saying that he knew where and who everybody was at all times. 

Many lusii were deemed unfit to care for grubs, and many wrigglers were given to trolls just as inadequate, if not worse. Eridan only managed to catch this sometimes. Background checks and visits were difficult to achieve when everybody their side of the moons had trust issues, and no matter how strict the regulations, Feferi, lead by her counsel, never let them enforce anything other than cullings. The only other offense punished was murder, or interference with a royal order. 

Behind her back, though, he recruited little orphaned grubs who left their homes. They worked for him, whether it was to catch people the empire needed for one reason or another, or to stop the illegal trafficking that ran rampant. 

Whatever it was, it typically kept the wrigglers from getting into trouble, and gave them a source of income. 

Sometimes it put them in trouble. Sometimes they didn't return. Sometimes they simply left, finding better things to do. Many of them joined Gamzees ranks once they were old enough, joining the league of clowns and becoming enforcers. 

Putting the thoughts of Gamzees orphan circus aside, Eridan focused on the present. This took form in following the directions of a lowblood. One who not only had the nerve to oppose him in a public setting, but also to then threaten him. 

Eridan found it kind of hot, to be honest. He ducked into the streets, with his hood up and his horns carefully threaded through the holes in it. There was a crowd further down, and somebody off to the side shot him a suspicious glare. The highblood gazed back for a moment, quickly identifying them as a greenblood of some sort, before they looked away and he continued on. It only took a few more steps before he nearly walked into the lanky yellowblood he'd been searching for. 

“Iit'2 you.” Sollux observed, motioning for him to keep walking. Eridan did so. 

“Yes? Wwere you expectin' someone else?” 

“No, Ii ju2t diidn't really expect you to turn up.” The goldblood observed, and Eridan felt rather annoyed at the lack of faith in him. 

“Wwhy wwouldn't I showw up? I said I wwould, and I'm a troll of my wword.” He said proudly. 

“Ii doubt that. And yeah. Ii fiigured you were two cluckbea2t two turn up.”

Eridan bristled, narrowing his eyes at Sollux, who just smirked. “You-”

“Hu2h. Iit'2 2tarting.”

Eridan opened his mouth to respond, before he realized that Sollux had turned away from him, peering over the crowd as a short troll hoisted himself up onto a dumpster. The crowds nervous (excited?) chatter died down as the troll cleared his throat.

“WELCOME, AND ALL THAT GOOD-”

Eridan winced at the language, and the trolls next statement was muddled by the ruffling of his cloak by his ears. He watched as the short troll waved his arms enthusiastically. He looked a bit familiar as well. Like-

“-AND TODAY I'M GOING TO SHARE MY MESSAGE.” 

Eridan froze, recognizing the troll abruptly. He could see Sollux watching his expressions out of his peripherals. It wasn't very well practiced, but the goldblood had probably done this before. 

He had good reason to, of course. If the troll on stage was one of his friends, that meant that Sollux was aiding none other than the one Feferi reminiscences about during their occasional feelings jams. She had lost him to her black flame, who had been snuffed out by some force Eridan was sure was otherworldly. 

Feferi had called her a meddler of lives, once. It seemed fitting, if Aradia had set the mutant up for this, but Eridan had met too many trolls who claimed that title for it to still hold any significance to him. 

The troll on stage talked of an equal world where they wouldn't be kept as pets. The sea dweller found himself agreeing on some level. He didn't quite think of it on those terms, but he'd dealt with too many volatile orphans to miss the meanings behind each phrase. 

Sollux stayed tense beside him, and Eridan gave him no reason to stop being so paranoid, nor did he give him a reason to continue. He simply listened, keeping his face blank. Over time, he became more and more aware of the stares he was accumulating. He wasn't typically very discreet, and even his more illegal practices took place in places like fancy diners where he 'checked in' on trolls hives, or at Gamzees circus, where brats hung off of railing, listening to every word and learning by trial and error. 

The lecture continued, and Karkat seemed unaware of the highblood in the midst of all the midbloods he was addressing. Eridan observed this for a while longer, before turning to Sollux and excusing himself to the ablution block. 

He cut through the crowd, followed by Sollux. As was the plan. 

He knew they wouldn't just let him flee back to his moirail, even if he wanted to. And boy, did he want to sometimes. 

When they finally found themselves at a distance from the speech, Eridan turned back to the sparking psionic next to him, and sighed. “Are you tryin' to commit suicide, doing it out here in the open?”

“Ii-waiit.” Sollux paused, surprised. “What?”

“Do you knoww howw many reports wwe'vve gotten from areas like this? You're lucky that Fef hasn't gotten her plan for more guards passed yet, or else they'd be swwarmin' ovver here like bees.” This earned a snort from Sollux, though Eridan couldn't fathom why. “Fef really, reelly wwants to find Vvantas. You need to movve right after this.” 

Sollux stared at him for a moment, before shaking his head. His sparks died down a bit though, which Eridan took as a good sign. 

“That'2 what you're worriied about?”

“Yes?” The royalblood didn't know what else he'd be worried about in their situation. 

“Ii thought... Wow. Ii thought you wouldn't agree wiith any of thii2 2tuff.”

“Wwhy wwould you invvite me if you thought I was going to turn you all in?” Eridan sighed. 

“Bad planniing on my part?” Sollux shrugged sheepishly. 

“Fine. Wwhatevver. You knoww my job, right?”

“Yeah. To be the empress' liittle biitc-” Sollux started, and Eridan decided to stop him there. 

“My official job. I'm the Orphaner. I deal wwith grubs and orphans day in and day out. I'm the one who orphans them. Our system ain't perfect, it ain't anywwhere close. But it's better than wwhat it could be.”

“Oh yeah?” Sollux challenged, and he scowled. He looked so much like somebody Eridan had known so long ago in that moment, that it hurt. 

“People could be dying and wwe wwouldn't evven knoww! Wwith the old empress, lowwbloods nearly wwent extinct. Evverybody wwas sent off to livve wwith their owwn blood color, wwith no outside interference. People wwere starvvin' in the streets! But Fef an' I-”

“2o beiing culled and tucked away liike you're nothiing ii2 2o much better, ju2t becau2e now we're 2afe from 2ome old empre22 who'2 been dead for who know2 how long?!?” Sollux's eyes flashed behind his cheap lenses. His argument sounded a lot like the one Eridan had heard the little mutant spew moments earlier. 

“I nevver said that! Fef-”

“'Fef thii2', 'Fef that'. Do you do any thinking on your own?”

Eridan gaped at him, amazed at his nerve. As cute as he was in the store, this was beyond pitch flirting. It had been something worse since he'd arrived. It wasn't at all how he'd wanted the second meeting to go. 

“-Nevermiind, of cour2e you don't. Look, iif you aren't gonna turn u2 iin, my mate2priit and my moiiraiil wanted two meet you.” The goldblood finally stood, looking back towards the crowd further down the street. 

If Eridan squinted, he could just make out the greenblood from earlier, hunkered down behind Vantas. 

“Wwhy?”

“Becau2e we hatekii22ed iin a 2tore.” Sollux said blandly, and Eridan swallowed slowly, trying to figure out how to proceed without fucking it up himself, or prompting the other to fuck it up. Not that they hadn't already done a great job at that. 

“That...” Eridan composed himself, spinning a ring. “I wwill not let anybody knoww of this, though my statement still stands, and I believe that you should movve after this.”

“Don't worry.” Sollux snarked. “We wiill.”

“Sollux,” Eridan began, but when he paused to think, Sollux took the time to mash their lips together, like he hoped that would fix things. It was just as unsure as the first time, and somehow even more awkward. Teeth met teeth, and Eridan scowled into it, before stepping back after only a few seconds. He then stopped, and tried to figure out if that had been rude.

Feeling like a damn 6 year old, he irrationally wished for the scarf he wore in his youth, and fervently hoped that his cloak covered up any blushing. 

“You're a lot more bearable when you aren't talkiing.” Sollux huffed, before he shifted back and forth and glanced at Eridan, unsure. 

“I could say the same for you.” He replied, taking solace in the fact that at least neither of them seemed to know what they were doing. “I'll meet your friends, and once again, I'll tell nobody about this.”

“How do ii know ii can trust you?”

“It didn't stop you last time, did it?” Eridan questioned, and looked down at his rings. He carefully pried one off, the one on the middle finger, embedded with a deep black gem.

Just in case. 

Feferi always called in insane for carrying around jewelry like that, but then again, she always wore a necklace with some coral matching the ring on his pointer finger. 

He handed it over to Sollux, who stared at it for a moment before recognition dawned on his face. 

“Oh.” The psionic murmured, and Eridan was quick to defend himself. 

“I'm a bit tacky, I knoww-”

The sea dweller cut himself off as Sollux placed it on his finger (The correct one, Eridan noted). It was a bit big on him, but Eridan could find something more precise later. 

He was gifted with something close to a smile, before Sollux grabbed his arm, and pulled him over to listen to the rest of the lecture.


	12. The Boy Who Caught the Spider

The lusii had been worried lately. Anxious, maybe?

Some of their thought processes were too abstract, or sometimes not diverse enough to properly put into words, but even the less sentient ones could get emotions across, and they had definitely been unsettled by whatever had intruded upon their land. 

It wasn't the first time this had happened though, and usually it was a hurt or rogue animal. The ones of higher bloods, and the ones declared unfit to perform custodial duties often struck out on their own. It was a barbaric practice, really, and doomed many of them that could only exist in society, fulfilling their instinctive purpose to die at the hands of nature. Due to this, Tavros had made it his goal to help as many lusii as he could. It was difficult with the newer ones sometimes, as he was unused to their minds. He tended to take a while to commune with them properly. 

But the creatures further out into the forest had also been on edge for the past day or so. That tended to be more rare, as the ones closest to his hive were the most sensitive. 

Whatever it was could have been hostile, but if it hadn't already stumbled upon his abode, the creature could be hurt, and that just didn't sit well with him. 

So once Tinkerbull assisted him in placing his medical kit and lance into the pocket of his four wheeled device, he rolled off into the forest. The terrain was a pain, but he'd been growing more used to it again, what with the repairs his house had been needing.

Tavros rolled to where his lusus directed him, and paused when he noticed a dug out ditch with some rather obvious claw marks outside of it. They didn't seem very animalistic, however. More like when he scratched the ground near the pond. 

He reached out with his mind, and was met with a block, confirming his suspicions that it was indeed a troll. Tavros did find it strange that their shelter was as far away from the nearby town as one could get, unless they'd come from the other direction, where it was a good few weeks travel to the next place over. 

“uMM, hELLO?” He called, to no avail. 

It was time for the fun part.

Tavros began removing himself from the four wheeled device, toppling into the dirt, and flopping around for a moment. He managed to get a grip on the chair, and maneuvered himself towards the ditch, where he could peer inside. 

Tinkerbull brought over the medicine kit, and his lance. It was very thoughtful of him, as Tavros had forgotten to grab those before dumping himself onto the ground. 

“hELLO?” Tavros called, taking his lance and prodding the inside of the dug out part lightly. There was a dark figure inside, and when they didn't move, he reached in and shook their shoulder. 

They groaned and turned slightly. Tavros pulled back his hand, thinking, before looking down as he felt something crusty on his skin. The troll had been bleeding at some point, though it seemed to have mostly dried. 

The color was only a hint more teal than that of his former culler. The bronzeblood felt sick for a moment, before he pushed it down, deciding that he didn't need any distractions. 

So Tavros shook the figure again, and then carefully started pulling them out. He used his shoulder as leverage against the upper part of the ditch to get the troll out, though it caused the earth to spill in after them.

The troll was a lady, covered in dirt and blood. He lay her out, and turned to his medical kit. Fixing those up would take a while. 

________________________________________________

Running was all she knew.

Vriska had been on the run almost forever. Forever being as long as she could remember. The thrill of it enticed her, as much as the tired dread of it weighed her down. 

It wasn't all that she cared to know, it was just what she spent the most time and energy doing. She had learned lots of things other than it, though. All the things.

She learned as much as she could about the harmful fragments of light from Alternia's sun, and she learned as much as she possibly could about spiders. She knew bits and pieces about fashion, and she knew how to hold her own in a court. 

But running was what Vriska did best. 

The blueblood had been justified in running this time, as she often was. The only difference, was that her attacker had gotten in a lucky shot, just underneath her ribs. Wrapping it did her no good, and she had always hated doing her own stitches, preferring to leave it to-

Eventually, she had to trust that the wrappings would do, too dizzy from blood loss to focus on much else.

Fortunately, her attacker probably thought her dead after a wound like that.

Unfortunately, they would probably be right in a matter of hours. 

Even if it wasn't the wound that offed her, the deadly sun and starvation were the next trials to be. 

Vriska didn't even know why that troll in particular had wanted to kill her. She'd lost count. 

Frantic digging and curling up in a hole to die were the last things in her memory, so the thief didn't know why she was still hurting so badly. Or why she was reminiscing again. 

Her eye snapped open, and Vriska was able to make out a troll standing over her. She recoiled and blindly reached for a weapon while he was turned, before freezing and trying to feign sleep when he turned back, though she was sure her heart was hammering much too loudly for that to work. 

She seemed to be right, as the first thing out of his mouth was, “oH, yOU'RE AWAKE,”

“dON'T, uM WORRY, tHAT IS, I JUST CAME TO SEE WHAT HAD THE ANIMALS, uPSET, sO i'M JUST GOING TO HELP YOU OUT,” He continued, as Vriska forced herself up, and grabbed his lance. 

She didn't make it very far before she doubled back over and dropped the weapon, cursing.

The troll above her sighed and pushed her once again, onto her back. 

“Le8ve me al8ne!” Vriska ordered shrilly. She tapped into his mind quickly, leaving a web of influence and-

It shattered quickly, each connection broken. He simply scowled as she stared at him, speechless. 

“mY OLD CULLER, uSED TO DO THAT, bEFORE i GOT GOOD AT RECOGNIZING IT.”

Way to go, Vriska! The troll was a lowblood, and probably had some sort of mental ability. It was certainly an excellent idea to potentially anger the person with the most power at that moment. 

So she stilled, watching his every moment. He went about patching up her abdomen, before sighing. 

“iT, uH, nEEDS STITCHES,” He warned, and took a moment to pull out some needle and thread. 

Eventually, the blueblood decided that he was there to help, for the moment at least, and decided to scope out her surroundings. 

Obviously, she was still stuck gog knows where, at the mercy of a troll.

Said troll, she observed, had brown eyes, placing him many castes below her. The four wheeled device didn't escape her notice, though she didn't comment on it just yet. 

Vriska continued to focus on what she could see as the troll stitched her back up. The needle was steady, but soooooooo slow. The movement wasn't like any of the tough love from her beautiful- from her-.

From the girl that Vriska was used to dealing with while getting patched up. 

“i'M tAVROS, bY THE WAY.” 

“Vriska.” She introduced, watching as he somehow got into the four wheeled device. A lusus buzzed after him, carrying the items he'd left. 

“i CAN CARRY YOU, iF YOU, uM, wOULD LIKE,” Tavros offered, blushing slightly. Vriska paused. 

“C8rry me where?”

________________________________________________

Tavros' home was falling apart in some places, and sturdy in others, especially the foundation. Some of it was obviously knew and shabby, but some sections looked like they would survive a tornado. 

Vriska supposed it would do, since Tavros seemed hellbent on keeping her there while her wounds healed. 

For the first few days, she had been suspicious, and stayed curled up. She refused food until Tavros sat and ate it with her. 

Perhaps a week in, when her stomach no longer hurt with every breath (She didn't think any of Tavros' 'herbs' helped the healing process), Vriska was hit with the urge to get up and walk around. 

She followed, and pointedly did not help Tavros with his nightly routine. He was boring. His work was boring, and he obviously knew what he was doing, and he obviously cared way too much for the animals that were either going to die before him, or outlived him by so long that he was practically insignificant in their lives. 

The only one that gave her pause was his lusus. 

Tavros was lucky to have his lusus, and after a few days of following him about during the night, she jealously voiced that to him. 

“wELL, i AM VERY LUCKY, i THINK, tHAT i WAS ALLOWED TO KEEP HIM,” Tavros had responded, pouring grains into one of the feeders. 

“Allowed?” She grumbled in question, scowling at one of the lusii who had strayed too close. 

“mY CULLER, aLLOWED IT,” He said, pausing for a moment before he continued on. 

Vriska however, felt abruptly more excited. 

“Did y8u leave them!?!” It was amazing to her that he had was living out here, not culled, and not working for a clown of some sort for it. 

“i, i DID,” 

“Me too!” Vriska grinned widely, feeling like Terezi might have, if she were there to share her enthusiasm. “What'd yours do to y8u?”

Tavros paused, puzzled, and she quickly went on. 

“M8ne hit me! And my flush- my old friefrie some8ody I knew was locked up in their hive all the t8me.”

Rather than share his story, Tavros' confusion turned into some sort of sorrowful look, and he turned away, quiet and withdrawn for the rest of the night. 

Vriska didn't know how to judge the severity of his culler from that, and didn't bring it up again, despite her burning curiosity. 

A few nights later, she realized that she was becoming all too comfortable. Staying was no longer about letting her injuries heal up, and she wasn't even humoring him anymore, despite what she claimed. 

Vriska enjoyed following him around at night, and didn't fuss too much when she was roped into doing something. 

A feeling had wedged it's way into her chest for the third time, and she knew it was going to end badly, just like the other times. 

It was while she was pondering those feelings that the world decided to attack her with them. Tavros wheeled his chair up, and joined her as she sat on a log and stared off into the moonlight. 

“dON'T LAUGH, bUT SOMETIMES, i WANT TO FLY UP THERE, wITH THE MOON,” Said the bronzeblood. Vriska angled her head to look at him, because he'd been an idiot and had chosen her bad side to sit at. “i KNOW IT'S STUPID BUT, sINCE tINKERBULL HAS WINGS, i ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT i'D-”

“I w8nt to 8e an author.” Vriska interjected. It was something she'd never told anybody before. It was something that she hadn't even worked out until recently, when she realized that everything that wasn't written down was lost to the ages. 

That was why courts had records, she was told. It was why patterns were sewed into fabric, to pass messages so others could know what was happening. 

Vriska wanted to be a part of that, but she was too far gone to be anything but the accused in a courtroom, and her fingers shook from adrenaline and cold and she stuck herself more than the fabric whenever somebody tried teaching her to sew. 

So she wanted to write. 

Vriska was certain that she had the ability, or at the very least, inspiration. 

When she looked back at Tavros, rather than upset that she had interrupted him, he looked like he had finally figured out something important. 

And then he leaned forward, pressing close to her, and despite his warmth and the inviting kindness of his eyes, all she felt was rage. 

Vriska smacked him and stalked off, trying not to run or panic or let her heart pound too frantically in her chest. 

This had never worked out for her before, and she didn't see why it would now. 

She didn't see a lot of things now. 

Tavros didn't show up for dinner that night, and she curled up in one of the corners of his hive, and wrote him something. 

It was of a dark night with bright stories and young, gleeful trolls that could fly. They were to visit the stars, and on every star, there was a new animal. Each was the last of it's kind, alone and stranded. The troll's goal was to heard them all up, and keep them safe and happy. To let them intermingle, and to introduce them to a new world. 

It was an idea that could go on forever, and it felt sad and wondrous enough for it to work itself out onto the paper. 

Then she left it, and collected her things.

Tavros stopped her, already seeming to know where she was going. 

“yOU CAN COME BACK,” Tavros assured her, “wHENEVER YOU GET HURT, aGAIN, bUT UM, pLEASE DON'T GET HURT JUST TO COME BACK, yOU CAN, vISIT WHENEVER, aCTUALLY,”

Vriska felt a bit sick to her stomach, and pecked his cheek before fleeing into the forest, where he had shown her the direction of the village once. 

She had a second chance.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for reading through my story. Feedback would be appreciated, as I can be a bit unclear with my writing at times. If I missed any grammar, please let me know as well. I plan on having at least one chapter from each character's perspective, with many having multiple. I already have several written out and I just need to go back and edit them.


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